Monday's Ambition

Mondays are hard days for pastors. That is the day that the enemy makes his weekly rounds and speaks doubt, defeat and discouragement to those who lead God's church. We all know that satan is a liar, but unless you have walked in the shoes of a pastor, it is unlikely that you would truly understand the strength of the attack that hits pastors on Sunday evening and Monday. I want to remind all of my co-laborers out there that there is an antidote for the toxic lies with which the devil seeks to infect you. It is found in 2Cor 5:9, "Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."

So many pastors are easily caught up in the business of leading a church and forget that the measure of their success is not found there. Search high and low through the record of ministry achievements and it cannot be found. The measure of a pastor's success is found in the prayer closet. Oswald Chambers said it best, "the master ambition...means holding one's self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to be 'accepted of Him'. " Oswald goes on to say that Paul did not heed the approval of the audience if he could catch the look of approval from his Master.

This is what matters on Sunday and Monday...that we are close to Him, entwined daily with Him in the intimate dance of hidden fellowship. If we allow anything else to become our measure of success, then we embrace carnality and we grieve the heart of our Father. How are you this Monday? Measure what matters most, which is the distance that exists between you and God. I pray that there is no distance, that you are breathing in the unfathomable treasures that He breathes out.